The Everest yeti

And Burtsev is convinced the animal is an “unknown mammal closely related to man”.

He said: “When homo sapiens started populating the world, they viciously exterminated its closest relative in the hominid family, homo neanderthalensis.

“But some of the Neanderthals may have survived to this day in some mountainous wooded habitats that are more or less off limits to their arch foes.

“No clothing on them, no tools in hands, and no fire in the household. Only round- the- clock watchfulness for homo sapiens around.”

The most recent encounter with Russia’s version of bigfoot came in January this year.

A group of locals stumbled upon – and managed to photograph – an overgrown ape in the southwest

VICTIMS: Skiers were found in ice region of the Caucasus Mountains.

Eyewitness Ludmila Hristoforova said: “The creature was big, looking like a bear, but not a bear.

“From the door we have seen something big and shaggy.”

Homeowner Andrei Kazarian added: “I heard footsteps and we were pretty sure there was no- one else around because we knew for sure everyone else was inside the house.

“Although we didn’t see anyone we saw its huge footprints. They were five to six centimetres deep and couldn’t come from a human foot.”

Others, however, are sceptical about the yeti’s existence.

New York- based author Benjamin Radford, 44, is an expert on the Dyatlov Pass Incident and he is convinced the group tragically died in an avalanche.

He explained: “They were poorly clothed because they had been sleeping, and ran to the safety of the nearby woods where trees would help slow oncoming snow.

“In the darkness of night they got separated into two or three groups – one group made a fire while the others tried to return to the tent to recover their clothing, since the danger had apparently passed.

“But it was too cold, and they all froze to death before they could locate their tent in the darkness.

“The group of four whose bodies were most severely damaged were caught in an avalanche and buried under 13ft of snow.

“Dubinina’s tongue was likely removed by scavengers and ordinary predation.”

ARGUABLY the most famous photograph of a yeti’s footprint was snapped by British explorer Eric Shipton during a 1951 expedition to Mount Everest in Nepal.

The foot measured between 12 and 13 inches long. Shipton always claimed the photos were authentic, right up until his death in 1977.